


Complex

by Emono



Series: Saw AU [3]
Category: Band of Brothers, The Pacific (TV)
Genre: Dirty Talk, Drama & Romance, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Mild horror and suspense, Saw AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-11-19 03:21:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11304669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emono/pseuds/Emono
Summary: Snafu is a criminal informant and a special consultant for the FBI. He’s grown close to his handler, Deputy Marshall Bill “Call Me Hoosier, everyone does” Smith, closer than he should. Snafu is a complex mesh of awkward and intense that makes up a strangely seductive siren call for his handler. They both know they shouldn’t, that it complicates things, but they’re infamous for being complicated.Guys like them don’t get happy endings, they don’t get the domestic fantasy and the Disney sunset walkoff while the screen fades to black. The heat really turns up when the FBI recruits Snafu to work on the Jigsaw cases.-An interlude in the Saw Series





	1. Chapter 1

**[Here's](http://emono-omae.tumblr.com/post/160677810531/merriell-shelton-aka-snafu-is-a-criminal) a [taste](http://emono-omae.tumblr.com/post/160679319066/the-jigsaw-cases-are-getting-under-snafus-skin) of what this fic looks like. And here's the tag of the [Saw AU](http://emono-omae.tumblr.com/tagged/Saw-AU). This is a rarepair that cropped up by complete accident between some awesome blogs and I hope at least a couple of you guys see what came of it. But also I know horror isn't everyone's thing. Contrary to the name, this little installment will be more brief than the other ones and less detailed.**

**  
This fic ties in directly to the[Webgott](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11060565) installment as well as the LuzToye installment (soon to come and will be linked.)**

 

**Comments are appreciated and keep me going <3**

 

* * *

 

 

It was by pure chance that they’d been thrown together.

 

FBI Special Agent Joe Toye had assigned Hoosier as Snafu’s handler and the moment they were in the same room, there was a spark. They hadn’t expected much at the sight of one another - a lanky blond Deputy Marshal and a whipcord hacker who barely peeked out of his hood the whole meeting.

 

But when they opened their mouths, humor and dry wit and snark flew around like a storm. Hoosier was crass, sarcastic, and when he sensed tension he couldn’t seem to shut his mouth. Snafu was hyper intensity wrapped in the disguise of a bored geek, a sluggish grin attached to a genius mind. But they were both vulgar, and smart, and they knew how to get what they wanted. It was an undeniable attraction from the start. Hoosier had fought the desire tooth and nail and Snafu always _pushed_. He wanted more, always more. He was someone who just wanted to see how far he could go.  

 

Snafu craved raw, wild passion in his partners. He wanted a fight between the sheets. He wanted bites and bruises. He wanted to be fucked well into the night and feel it for the whole week. It’s the only reason he slept with Toye in the first place - the _power_. It had been a thrill fucking his boss. The Special Agent never treated him badly, never hurt him, and he made sure they both got off and were satisfied in the end. More than satisfied, honestly. All that passion had gone straight to Snafu’s head like a drug and he’d enjoyed every minute of it. They both knew what it was from the start - good, rough fucking as Snafu gave up information about his fellow criminals and kept his eyes peeled on the streets.

 

But then Snafu had met Hoosier. They’d shared meals, beer, motel rooms, smokes, played more games of cards than he could count. They were forced to spend a lot of time together what with the check-ins and Hoosier being assigned to watch his back on sting operations. Between greasy diners and bad cable movies they’d somehow become friends.

 

And when Snafu started to see the power in the man it only made things worse. Hoosier wasn’t just an authority figure to feed into his darker desires. He was quick, surprisingly easy going, and brutally honest in the shadows of their motel rooms. The man was mesmerizing and shockingly complex once you got past that sarcastic facade. There was a moral compass in all those layers but not as finely tuned as Snafu had come across in law enforcement. Hoosier seemed to have a handwritten code and he learned quickly that the man wasn’t squeaky clean.

 

Snafu wasn’t a high end hacker for nothing. It was all too easy to break into Hoosier’s laptop while the man went out for a drink with a friend. He found out Hoosier was covering for someone named Joe Liebgott. He was placing alibis, coercing witnesses, and doing research on databases that a low caliber New York detective would get flagged for. Snafu was surprised but not shocked. And all done through coded email. It was impressive.

 

Snafu knew early on he wanted to fuck Hoosier. The bastard had sex appeal and was dabbling in both sides of the field. Nothing was hotter than someone who could easily sneak under the nose of the law to get what they wanted. And Hoosier was a sharpshooter for fuck’s sake. That alone was enough to get him rock hard.

 

But between the check-ins and trying to coax Hoosier into his bed, things got complicated.

 

o0o

 

Snafu liked being choked but not like this. Never like this.

 

The man was twice his size and bore him down into the bed with every pound he had. His palm was wide and spread all too easily along the crest of Snafu's throat. He clawed at the man’s bulky arms, his scowling face, but he couldn’t fight him off like this. The man had taken some kind of drug and he’d gone _mad_. It was supposed to be an easy deal. Go in under a false psuedo name, get the guy to buy the intel, duck out, let the police bust him.

 

But he’d mouthed off to the ignorant druggie fuckhead and it had gone bad. The man was obviously a small time internet criminal and it had irritated the piss out of Snafu. He was a high profile criminal hacker, for fuck’s sake, he had useful skills. Snafu was a talker not a fighter. He could scrap with the best of them, biting faces and clawing eyes until he could get away. But when his opponent had thrown him down on an unyielding bed and was crushing him with packed muscle and intent?

 

Spots starting cropping up in his narrowing tunnel of vision. He felt like his eyes were swelling and his lungs were shriveling up. Adrenaline laced hot through his veins but he couldn’t do more than buck. The man had smacked him around a little but he hadn’t called for help. The deputies had decided he didn’t need a mic so there was no one to hear his strangled cries. Snafu felt like tenderized meat against the scratchy comforter, like a helpless dog being put down.

 

There were no last thoughts, no final prayers, just the sound of blood vessels popping under his skin.

 

There were two cracks of thunder and something hot splashed over his belly. One moment he was being choked and the next all that muscle was limp against him and bruising his lungs. Snafu blinked and the world shifted, the bed rocking as the man was rolled away. He looked down and he saw blood, could feel it seeping through his shirt, but then all he could see were hazel green eyes. Blond locks falling out of a devilish swoop to kiss a concerned brow.

 

Snafu blinked dully at Hoosier and thought how plump and pink his lower lip was.

 

“Shelton, you with me?” The gunshots had rung his ears and the voice echoed. The world rippled once more and Hoosier was cupping his face, thumbs like blinders on his temples. Those palms were far from soft but they were solid, rough and real as they cradled his jaw. “You hurt? He get you at all?”

 

Snafu shook his head. They were surrounded by deputies and all he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss Hoosier.

 

That’s how he knew he was in love.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention this but Hoosier and Snafu have been combined with their actors other characters Tim Gutterson from Justified and Elliot from Mr. Robot respectively. I'm trying to retain the core of their character traits but I kinda like MUSHED it all together, like how Hoose's job is blatantly the same and I've bastardized it a bit to make him a hacker CI.
> 
> Comments keep it goin, guys, you're the best

Getting Hoosier to kiss him was harder than getting him in bed.

 

They started the usual straight guy song and dance after their second month of being assigned. It just took some filthy words, some blatant challenges, and a spark ignited.

 

“You can do whatever you want,” Snafu had promised in his ear, hot and tight as Hoosier had thrown him against the wall and crowded him. The man felt solid against him and he wanted more. “Take it, Hoose.”

 

It had been all the simple stuff at first. Rubbing against each other, jerking Hoosier off, letting him fuck his mouth and jerking himself because he knew it was all he could get. It was well worth the trouble. When Hoosier came around, he came _hard_ , tossing Snafu around and letting him ride his thigh while he sucked vivid bruises all across his chest and throat. For someone who wanted to keep things quiet, Hoosier was a possessive fucker and would only grin when the other deputies teased Snafu about his ‘secret girlfriend’. Hoosier apparently loved to mark and it just so happened Snafu loved to take it. There was nothing like teeth digging into his skin to remind him he was alive.

 

Hoosier took it upon himself to start stashing lube all over the place. He was surprisingly receptive to getting fingered, to going down on Snafu, to try anything once really. They went from close-your-eyes-and-it-could-be-anyone, fumbling in the dark, to Hoosier pulling over on a dirt road and fucking him in the roomy cab of his work car during high noon.

 

“Better than prom night,” Snafu snarked between moans, puffing and hooking his knee over the man’s shoulder. His hand slapped on the fogged window as Hooser rolled those damn talented hips and hit his spot.

 

Hoosier grinned, a sex-flush staining his cheeks and the line of his throat. “No one asked you to prom.”

 

Snafu cackled in victory at how breathless and wrecked the deputy sounded. He bore down on his cock and loved how those golden lashes fluttered wildly. “You would.”

 

o0o

 

Kissing just never seemed to happen. The more almost-misses that happened the more Snafu needed it to happen. He always needed _more_. One way or another, he always got what he wanted.

 

Snafu caught Hoosier off guard while he was cleaning his pistol. The man was so immersed in his ritual that he didn’t so much as flinch when Snafu crawled onto the bed behind him. He pressed himself flat against Hoosier’s back, bracketing his hips with his knees and curling an arm around his narrow waist.

 

“Whoa, boy, these are delicate pieces,” Hoosier huffed in amusement. “Daddy’s a little busy.”

 

Snafu fisted a hand in blonde hair but stayed gentle as he coaxed Hoosier’s head to the side. He looked into those hazel eyes and waited, watching, letting the intent settle. He wasn’t good with words when it mattered but he wasn’t looking to get clocked. He gave Hoosier every chance to get away as he slid his fingers from his hair and down to the sharp line of his jaw. He tilted Hoosier forward, let his eyes fall closed and - _ah_ , sweet pressure. The man’s mouth was firmer than it looked but so inviting, warm and smooth like he’d been hoping.

 

Snafu waited for rejection, shoulders tense in anticipation of a shove or at least a slap. But Hoosier just hummed and he swore he could hear the accent in it. A bold tongue swiped along the seam of his lips and he parted easily for it, starving for it, but Hoosier pulled back with a grin.

 

“Pretty, pretty,” the deputy murmured, eyes darting over his face. “You need somethin’, Mer?”

 

Snafu went all warm at the nickname. No one had ever called him that not even as a child. It was new and thrilling, a secret between them. “Your mouth.”

 

Hoosier slid a hand over his thigh but Snafu shook his head and dove back in for another kiss. Yeah, this was just what he needed.  


o0o

 

Snafu didn’t team up with the FBI out of the goodness of his heart. His file stated that he turned himself in to help catch more dangerous cyber villains but his motives were far from pure. Becoming an FBI CI meant he had close access to their mainframes, their security, the very core of their set up. He rooted around in their network and extracted prime cover-ups and lies to send them out to credible publishers along with names. Some of those names got people killed but when the truth came out about a mass shooting or an overseas operation he felt like he was doing some good in the world. He was righting small wrongs and overthrowing a corrupt government in his own way. Sleeping with his handler, bringing in criminals, exposing the government's (albeit poorly) hidden secrets.

 

It was perfect. Until it wasn’t.

 

o0o

 

Snafu squirreled himself away in an abandoned warehouse. He was hunkered down on the cement, hoodie encasing him completely as his fingers whirred over the keys. He’d found a goldmine of underground arrests, names _and_ causes, and was determined to release them all at once before anyone noticed. He was so lost in the righteousness of it all, the rush of power in exposing the truth, that he didn’t notice the pinging sound coming from his computer until it was too late.

 

He was being traced.

 

“Shit, _fuck_ ,” Snafu spat as he started running a full computer wipe. His fingers twitched nervously as fresh adrenaline hit his system. He cleared every trace before plucking out the external hard drive. He clipped it back to his necklace and it went from damning evidence to a boring black bar pendant. He shoved everything into his backpack and took off running.

 

Snafu hit the back stairwell in a beeline for the run down basement. He knew there was a window he could crawl through. If he could get out on the street he could disappear completely. He hooked a hand on the wall and swung around to the next set of stairs to find a barrel pointed in his face. He stumbled back and the Deputy Marshal followed him, gun steady and trained right between his eyes.

 

Hoosier took each step carefully and in moments they were on level ground.

 

“Hey,” Snafu grunted. He knew what he must look like, a damn deer caught in floodlights, but he couldn’t move. Hoosier was an infamously crack shot and there’s no way he would miss if he decided to squeeze that trigger.

 

“Hand it over,” Hoosier demanded.

 

“You gonna’ shoot me, Hoose?” Snafu shot back. “You ain’t got the balls.”

 

Hoosier tilted the gun up long enough to hit the magazine and flick off the safety and then it was aimed right back at the sweet spot.

 

Doubt withered away at the gesture and his throat went tight. “One in the chamber. What you gonna’ do with it?”

 

“Hand it over or I’ll clip you,” Hooser bit out.

 

Snafu looked for any yield but the man’s eyes were shuttered off. He was all business and it honestly scared him. “You’d kill me?”

 

“No,” Hoosier admitted lowly, staring at him down the site. “But I’d take out a wing and that’s all I need. Now whatever you have, wherever you have it, you give it up right now.”

 

Snafu steeled his jaw and dug his heels in. He slid back his hood and laced his hands behind his head, staring the deputy down with a scowl. “Double dare you.”

 

Hoosier sucked his teeth and his lip rose in a brief snarl. He holstered his gun with a swift, practiced movement and came at him. Snafu braced himself and didn’t move an inch as the deputy started to pat him down. He couldn’t stop the way he jumped as Hoosier blatantly squeezed his ass and dug his fingers beneath the cheek, lifting him up on his toes.

 

“Is this a shakedown or foreplay, Deputy?” Snafu cursed his breathlessness and how his dick twitched when Hoosier’s hand groped along the inside of his thigh.

 

“Why not both?” Hoosier drawled, keeping his touch firm enough to snatch him if he made a run for it. “I can multitask.”

 

The deputy’s hand snaked up his shirt and Snafu hissed at the electric shock of skin-on-skin. The adrenaline rush of exposing FBI secrets had faded and a new flush of arousal was filling his cock. His nipple got snagged in the ‘v’ of Hoosier’s long, knowing fingers and he arched up into it. An indignant sound was pulled from his lips when the man tweaked it. He could feel the tingle all the way down to his balls.

 

Snafu didn’t mean to wince when Hoosier touched the edge of the pendant but he did. He swallowed back a cry when he was thrown against the wall and the gun came back out, pointed right at his heart. Snafu didn’t dare try to make a run for it with how fast Hoosier cornered him, closing off his escape. The gun tapped his jaw but he only grit his teeth, refusing to make another sound. It dragged down his throat, bobbing as he swallowed, and the barrel caught under the loop of the necklace. It was raised up until it dangled just past Snafu’s chin.

 

“Gotcha.” Hoosier’s eyes flickered to his and his traitorous cock twitched again. “How long have you been selling secrets?”

 

Snafu squirmed against the cold cement. “I’m not selling. I don’t give a shit about money.”

 

“Bullshit,” Hoosier accused, eyeing him to look for the lie. “ _Oh_. You’re serious?”

 

He nodded tightly.

 

“Then why the fuck are you doing this?” Hoosier needled relentlessly. “Why are you risking everything? A CI digging around in the FBI network, pushing out classified videos and names? You’re going straight to jail.”

 

“Why?” Snafu glanced down at the pendant and wondered how pretty he was considered in a Kentucky prison. “ ‘Cause I can. ‘Cause people need to know what the fuck the FBI does. They’ve been getting away with shit for years and I’m sick of it. Civilians are sick of it.”

 

“Civilians,” Hoosier repeated with a scowl, a flare of heat glinting in his eyes. “What the hell you know about _civilians_ , boy?”

 

The pendant twitched and Snafu wondered if the infamous Hoosier Smith had just _flinched_?

 

“I don’t give a rats ass about those people, or _those_.” Hoosier nodded at the pendant where the names resided. “Not even about the ones about to rain hellfire on whoever was sending out this intel. But I give a shit about you, Mer. You hear me? I give a shit.”

  
Snafu winced at the spat words and jerked against the wall as the man burst into movement. The gun lowered and the pendant was snatched in one smooth motion that he couldn’t have stopped even if he’d tried. The necklace popped and Hoosier palmed it, weighing the device before slipping it into his inner jacket pocket. “We arrived first at the scene.”

 

Snafu considered himself on the good side of genius but he couldn’t figure out what the fuck the deputy was saying. “What?”

 

“We arrived first on the scene,” Hoosier repeated slower but with far less patience. “If there’s anything left behind by the whistle-blower, you can pick through that and find a trail. Everyone leaves a trail, don’t they?”

 

“Yeah,” he admitted reluctantly.

 

“And if it’s there…” Hoosier purposefully touched his pocket. “We’ll do our duty to find it. You pickin’ up what I’m puttin’ down, kid?”

 

Snafu gawked in revelation and he thought his knees were going to give. Hoosier was _protecting_ him. He didn’t know if his hard drive would pop up later or if it was gone for good but Hoosier had no intention of handing it over. He wasn’t being turned in he was being told to shut his mouth. He didn’t know whether to thank him or offer him a quick blowie.

 

“You’ve been inside me, Hoose, don’t call me kid.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

“Recon? For the feds?” Snafu repeated dumbly as he took the stack of cases from Hoosier. He had taken the deputy’s desk as a power move but it cost him the freedom to bolt the moment he saw those files.

 

“Yep.” Hoosier plopped them into his hands. “Buddy of mine is working it up in New York. His fed connection is the same as ours, Joe Toye. Toye wants us to take a look and see if there’s any connections. Anything you can root up.”

 

Now that he’d managed to get Hoosier in his bed, Toye’s name made his skin itch. He trusted the Special Agent not to give away their affair but he didn’t want him around just in case. Hoosier seemed chill but the man could get high strung and flaky when one too many gay jokes were cracked. If he found out about Snafu and Toye, he wasn’t sure what would happen. “I’m not a detective.”

 

“That’s what I said,” Hoosier griped as he set the two coffees and donuts he’d grabbed on the desk between them. He sat down on the second chair and kicked his feet up on Runner’s desk. “But some of these victims were pretty high profile. Toye wants you to look through these and if you think you can find something useful on any of their computers he’s going to send them down. It’s a long shot but you're the best whiz kid he’s got on the payroll so here we are.” He popped the lid off his coffee and started shaking out four packets of sugar at once. “Not like any of these fuckers had the good grace to get killed with a gun.”

 

“That means you’re useless here, Cowboy,” Snafu teased.

 

“Ah shut up and do your homework.”

 

They ended up pouring through the files together as the afternoon light grew stronger and waned again. They bounced ideas off each other and cringed at the carnage in the pictures. In the end, Snafu sent a list of victims or associates to Toye that could possibly be of use if he could get his teeth into their software.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Hoosier stopped by his own desk on his way out to click off the lamp and grab his jacket. He was ready to get into something comfortable and wrap his lips around a beer after the day he’d had. Runner had nearly got himself shot and Chuckler hadn’t been far behind him. He was ready to put it to bed. Hoosier he gave pause when he saw the plain envelope lying there. It was far too late for a mail run and it definitely hadn’t been there when he’d passed by just two hours ago. He cast a careful eye around the Marshal’s Office but there were barely any stragglers left.

 

No one there that shouldn’t be.

 

Hoosier flicked out his knife and was careful as he slit open the top. He should’ve worn gloves, turned it into Haldane, but something told him it wasn’t a good idea. A single piece of ordinary loose leaf paper slid out. A sentence was typed out on it in simple black letters.

 

**One bullet to end it all**

 

Hoosier flipped the page over and a fist of tension balled in his chest.

 

**One wrong choice**

 

“Ah shit,” Hoosier cursed. He crumpled it all up and shoved it in his bag to burn later. His own words had been thrown back at him and there’d only been one person who’d heard them. At the very least, one person who’s phone might have been tapped and recording.

 

He got to his car and texted Lieb to make sure his phone wasn’t bugged and got a brief _fuck you_ in return.

 

 **HS** : _I’m serious I think someone might have heard one of our conversations. Whoever it is knows about Web  
_   
**  
JL** : _Let them know. Probably just some fucking faggot hater that followed us to the bar and is trying to fuck with us. You were a ranger, quit being so jumpy_

 

Hoosier rolled his eyes and hoped his friend was right.

 

o0o

 

Snafu felt like he was being watched. Everywhere he went he felt like he had an extra shadow. He’d always been paranoid but now there was heat on the back of his neck. He started to get jittery and it wasn’t all the crap energy drinks he downed. Snafu stopped going out so often and when he came home he kept the curtains closed. He started slumping down in the car when he had to go on ride alongs. He kept his mouth shut as long as he could and he was grateful Hoosier went along with his new quirks. He cracked jokes but seemed to be rolling with it.

 

And then the note appeared. Simple paper, simple print, all slid beneath his front door with only a handful of words.

 

**I know who you are**

 

o0o

 

Snafu burst through Hoosier’s door the second he heard the lock click. He shoved the blond aside and stalked into his living room, pacing and trying his best not to chew his nails off. The deputy rolled his eyes and closed the door, throwing the locks back.

 

“Why sure, Mer, come right on in.”

 

“I’m being followed,” Snafu snarled, feeling trapped in this house and his clothes and his own fucking skin. He ripped his hoodie off and scrubbed his hands over his face as he tried to take a full breath. “Someone knows about the FBI, the intel-”

 

“What intel?” Hoosier drawled, playing stupid and pissing the man off more.

 

“It’s not fucking funny!” Snafu roared, snapping his mouth shut when he heard the desperate wobble in his voice. He knew the look on Hoosier’s face well. The man was trying to defuse his anger with humor, trying to get him to calm down without touching him. Usually it would work but not today, not with how freaked out he was. “Tell Toye I’m out. It’s over. Fuck this Jigsaw bullshit.”

 

Hoosier leaned against the wall and worked his jaw as he mulled it over. He braced his arm against the wall, fingers drumming along the paint.

 

“Fuck this Jigsaw bullshit,” Hoosier repeated firmly. He slapped the wall and then launched at him with quick steps. “You got it.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

Hoosier swept him up right off his feet and pulled him down onto the couch, throwing him around until he was right on his lap. Snafu hung on and a hard kiss was slanted across his mouth. It certainly cleared the haze from his mind.

 

“Never liked Toye none anyway,” Hoosier muttered, mouth dragging down his jaw to leave wet kisses down his throat. Snafu shivered and rocked against him. “I’ll tell him where to stick it.”

 

Snafu took the man’s jaw in both hands and brought him up into a kiss that was rather chaste to them. He brushed their noses and then tipped their foreheads together, breathing him in. He’d never felt more grateful for anything in his entire life than he did for Hoosier’s easy acceptance. He’d been so terrified, trying so hard to do things by himself. Maybe it didn’t have to be that way.

 

“Thank you,” he whispered into another kiss. When palm settled on his waist and held him close his heart beat to a steady thrum of _lovelovelove_.

 

o0o0o0o

 

Snafu had never felt so much like a caged animal than he did in that moment. His apartment felt small and he could feel the bars closing in. He was on the floor pressed tight against the wall but still he felt exposed. He was cracked open, his underbelly exposed for the world to see. His face and eyes felt hot and he knew how red he was as he tried not to sob. His lips twisted in an ugly scowl and he kept biting at them to stifle his noisy breaths.

 

Joe Toye sat at at the kitchen table like he owned the place. The chair was tilted toward Snafu and the man watched with an indifference that raked him raw. Joe was carved of ice, eyes like tar pits that threatened to swallow him whole. It had only been two days since Hoosier had put in his request to be taken off the Jigsaw cases but it had been enough. The Special Agent was beyond displeased.

 

“You wouldn’t,” Snafu choked out.

 

Joe’s lip drew back in a brief snarl. “Try me.”

 

“H-He’d never believe you.” Snafu’s breath tripped up and he wiped the back of his hand over his eyes. They were wet and he could feel the tears tickling and smearing across his cheeks.

 

“You think I’m stupid enough not to have proof?”

 

“Bullshit you do,” Snafu spat, heart prickling in his chest. He didn’t remember a camera, he’d never agree to something like that. Had Joe left his phone propped up somewhere when he wasn’t paying attention?

 

“I’ve got plenty of videos of you begging for it,” Joe revealed, the sick feeling in his gut doubling over. “I needed the insurance in case this happened. Hoosier’s a handsome enough guy if you’re into that sort of thing. I had no doubt you two would get along. I mean…” He tisked in disbelief. “I didn’t think you’d fall in love but, hey, who am I to judge?”

 

“I’m being followed,” Snafu pleaded for reason, tears blurring the world as he started to work himself up. “Someone put a note under my door! I-I don’t know if it’s Jigsaw but someone knows I’m on these cases. You can’t just leave me out in the middle of Goddamn nowhere without protective custody, Joe!”

 

Joe rubbed a thoughtful thumb over his mouth. “I gave you Hoosier, didn’t I?”

 

“You gave me a death warrant in all those files, you fucking asshole!” Snafu spat a few words in bastardized French before drawing his knees up to his chest. “I’m...I’m not doing this, Joe.”

 

Joe took his phone out of his pocket and waved it. “Do you want me to make the call or should I?”

 

" _Don’t_.”

 

“You’re onto one of the first few real leads we’ve had on this fucking case and you want to walk away? I don’t fucking think so, Shelton.” Joe leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, phone cradled in his fingers. “I’ll do whatever I have to to catch this motherfucker. If you think that I’m not going to tell Hoosier that his Cajun prince _begged_ for his boss’s cock, then you haven’t been paying attention, boy.”

 

“It’ll hurt you too,” he countered weakly. He was breathless at the thought of losing Hoosier. He wanted to crawl beneath the floorboards and die.

 

“No one will give a shit that I stuck my dick in some CI but you, _cuero_...you’ll lose Hoosier,” Joe insisted, sounding so disgustingly sure of himself. “What’s he going to want with you when he realizes I’ve already had you, Shelton? You picked a feisty one, sure, but look at him - he plays it straight. You could get him if he thought you were a safe bet. But giving it up to me, his boss?”

 

Joe pulled a face and shrugged. “You blew it, Fuck Up.”

 

Snafu shook his head, trying to deny it, but he knew it was true.

 

“Your only bet is to stick with the FBI and these cases.” His voice was hard and Snafu shuddered. “You try to leave again and I’ll tell him everything.”

 

Snafu buried his face in his knees and tucked his arm in to bite at the sleeve. His chest was shuddering with each sob, everything inside him threatening to rattle loose. He choked on his own tears and sputtered, hands starting to shake.

 

“I don’t like doing this,” Joe confessed, biting the side of his thumb as he watched the CI cry. “Everyone thinks I’m such a bad guy...these cases, Shelton, they’re important. People are dying horribly all over the state. You’re the first break that we’ve got. I need to know you’re staying on them.”

 

Snafu nodded and folded himself even tighter.

 

“Good boy.”  


  
“Don’t call me that,” Snafu demanded, fingers curling tight around his knee. “I’m not anything to you, never was. So don’t pretend otherwise.”

 

“We could be friends,” Joe offered. There was a sincerity in the Special Agent’s voice that made him sick.

 

Snafu picked up his head and sneered. “You’re a _snake_.”

 

“I’m a snake because I slept with someone in mutual satisfaction and want to bring in the most media-frenzied serial killer in the modern age?” Joe demanded hotly. “Then fuck you, yeah, I’m a snake. But you tangled with me. This could’ve stayed professional if you hadn’t come onto me.”

 

Rage boiled over in Snafu’s chest and he grabbed his shoe, chucking it at the man. “Stop trying to make yourself feel better and get the fuck _out_!”

 

Joe easily dodged and got up, straightening his jacket. “Fine. I want a check in by the weekend.”

 

Snafu chucked the other and couldn’t see where it landed past a fresh wave of tears. “I said get _out_!”

 

o0o0o0o

 

 _This_ was how he liked to be choked.

 

Snafu whimpered as long fingers closed around one side of his throat, a thumb pressing down on the other. Just enough to make him wheeze, just enough to cut off the blood flow and make him dizzy. Hoosier hadn’t been an amateur when they started but he was certainly an expert now. There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation anymore. Hoosier committed. Every squeeze was purposeful and claiming. Snafu felt absolutely possessed with his lover buried to the hilt inside his ass and bearing his weight down on his throat.

 

“That’s it, Mer. Feel like a fuckin’ silk vice around me.”

 

Hoosier moved with the same purpose he choked. His thrusts were fluid and solid, tagging his sweet spot every other pass to keep his nerves on fire. This moment wasn’t for a rough fuck to the finish. This was intimate, _heady_ , a power exchange that spoke of trust they could never explain. It was all Snafu wanted. It was all he wanted to remember. The two of them carving out their own tiny piece of the world.

 

“That’s it, darlin’, take it.”

 

“Don’t-” Snafu heaved against his palm, head tossing wildly against the sheets. “Don’t call me ‘darling’, you fucking hick.”

 

“Then don’t take my cock so good.”

  
  
“Fuck you.” He grinned up at Hoosier and dragged his nails down the man’s arm. “Better idea, fuck _me_.”

 

Snafu writhed against the bed like a satisfied cat, stretching and flexing his fingers and toes. He was tingling all throughout from the great fuck. It was their best sex yet and he was sore from his ass to his throat. The smoke from their cigarettes twined together above their heads. There was a lamp on in the hallway and moonlight spilled in through the windows, the cherry red of their smokes illuminating their faces.

 

Snafu was so lost in thought he didn’t even wince as ash fell onto his hand. Hoosier was a little further down, tucked beneath his arm, so he could see all that mussed hair. He cocked his head toward the blond and watched the play of light on his lashes, how it tossed across the elegant line of his cheekbones. He was a disgustingly beautiful bastard. “Why do you keep covering for me?”

 

Hoosier shrugged a little, flicking ash into the glass bowl on the side table. “Guess you’re just a great lay.”

 

Snafu felt like the smoke was burning him from the inside out. An acrid taste seared his mouth and his gut clenched. “Is that all?”

 

“Nah, you’re a lousy lay.” Hoosier craned his head and gave him an upside down grin, all those perfect white teeth in a neat row. “Maybe it means I like you.”

 

That put the flutter back in Snafu’s heart and he raised a brow at him. “Yeah?”

 

Hoosier shrugged again and stubbed out his smoke. “Guess so. I don’t usually cuddle.”

 

“This ain’t cuddling, Cowboy.”

 

Hoosier made a big show of huffing and squirming. Snafu chuckled lowly as the blond turned over and threw an arm around his waist. Hoosier tugged the pillow down until the corner cushioned his head and he laid a leg over the other’s. “ _There_. Cuddling.”

 

“Piss poor excuse of cuddling,” Snafu grunts, heart feeling two sizes too big. “Everyone knows cuddling is supposed to lead to fucking.”

 

“Well we went the other way this time,” Hoosier groused good-naturedly, rolling his eyes. Snafu raised his eyebrows in challenge and the man finally groaned in fond exasperation. “Fine. Give me half an hour and I’ll fuck you stupid all over again. Which, in your case Snaf, shouldn’t be so hard.”

 

“Ah, fuck you.”

 

“Fuck you too, babe.”

 

The name made Snafu’s breath hitch and he blushed. He quickly grabbed a pillow and smacked Hoosier in the face before the man could notice. But when Hoosier smacked him back and a shit-eating grin split his face, he knew the man knew.


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all your support for this silly ship. I hope you enjoyed it!

Snafu didn’t know how long he’d been awake in the hospital bed but he was sure it had gone darker and brighter again. A day, maybe. His head was cloudy and stuffed with nightmares that kept his eyes from closing. So he stared down at his hands and tried to forget the blood. He didn’t want to sleep. He knew what waited for him there. Every time he moved his mouth he could feel the stitches in his cheek. That trap had sliced his face open and there would be scars. The doctor had assured him there wouldn’t be any ‘terrible’ disfigurement and that he’d be able to smile without pain by the end of the month.

 

Snafu had asked the doctor what the fuck there was to smile about.

 

Hoosier came to see him and Snafu launched head first into a spiral. The guilt and shame of what he’d done flooded his system and it felt like a cold shock. He was shell shocked, staring at the blond as he rushed into the room in his plaid button up and wind-swept hair. He looked so normal while Snafu felt cracked open. He flinched when Hoosier sat on the bed and brought him into a hug. He gaped over the man’s shoulder as his back was rubbed, grasping for a reason he deserved such loving treatment.

 

Hoosier was talking and he was missing it. “You what?”  
  
  
  
“I was in one of those traps too,” Hoosier repeated patiently, long fingers lacing in the curls at the back of his head. His gaze roamed Snafu’s face and the bandages suddenly felt damning. “Nothing like what happened to you, Mer. It’s only been two weeks and I’m already healed. What’d he do to you?”

 

“Made me cut open a man, get my hands dirty with a real criminal,” Snafu murmured, each word carefully falling from his stiff lips. The stitches and gauze made it hard to open his mouth much and his voice was still raw from all the screaming. His heart felt swollen and ached fiercely behind his ribs as he remembered it. The blind panic, the ticking of the device, the almost sweet smell of flesh giving under the blade, and that sickly hot gush of blood between his fingers. “Made me free myself. Toye was there.”

 

Hoosier’s lip curled in disgust. “And he didn’t fuckin’ help you?”

 

“He wasn’t supposed to. It was part of his test.” The memories came back in a flood and he held his mouth, a whine choking up his throat. His eyes started to water. He was losing control. “I don’t wanna’ talk about him. Just… _Bill_.”

 

Snafu raked his fingers into the soft flannel and pulled. He fell into Hoosier’s arms and the man quickly bundled him close, letting him bury his face against his shoulder. A sob tore through him though he tried so hard not to cry. Behind his lids was that classroom, the red timer and the _ticktick_ of the headgear. The blades in his cheeks, the stench of blood, the sound of his own cries echoing back at him as he clutched onto a wet scalpel. The pictures that had been taped to the wall were still seared in his memories.

  
  
Toye had seen them too.

 

“Don’t leave. Please don’t leave,” Snafu begged, clutching Hoosier tight as hysteria started to creep into his voice. He couldn’t lose Hoosier after all he’d gone through. “I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry for everything. I won’t do it again! Don’t fucking listen to Toye, he’s a fucking liar, Bill, don’t!”

 

Hoosier tried to hold onto Snafu but the man was shaking him, fingers digging painfully through his shirt. “Hey, Mer, you gotta’ calm down.”

 

“It’s not fair!” Snafu wailed, fingers starting to bruise. “I didn’t kill anyone! I don’t want to lose everything because of fucking _Toye_!”

 

“Mer, come on,” Hoosier tried to soothe, holding him down as he started thrashing and trying to shake him. He looked to the open doorway and hoped someone was close. “Doc! Hey! I need someone in here!”

 

Hoosier held Snafu through the desperate shouting and was relieved to see a familiar doctor come in. It was the same man who had directed him to where Snafu’s room had been. The doctor had a syringe ready and gave a sympathetic smile as he went to Snafu’s IV and injected.

 

“Please, Bill!” Snafu begged, gradually slowing down as his eyes went glassy. “He...he’s a liar, he’s always been one. I would’ve told you. I swear. Couldn’t lose you, I fuckin’...Goddamn him.”

 

Hoosier cupped the back of his head and pressed their cheeks together, hushing him softly. “I know about everything. Not leaving you. I’m right here.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Snafu wheezed, lashes falling low and mouth throbbing. “Was so scared. I...the blood, I…”

 

“It’s all over, okay? We’re safe now,” Hoosier promised as he lowered him down onto the bed, petting through his hair. “I’m not going anywhere, alright? Be right here when you wake up.”

 

Snafu kept murmuring until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore and he slipped off to sleep. Hoosier kept his gentle motions through that thick, dark hair even as he side eyed the doctor. He expected judgement but the man’s eyes were gentle with understanding.

 

“It’ll be alright,” the doctor assured him. “Mr. Shelton’s still in some shock. Traumatic event like this, anyone would be rattled. Though I’m glad to see you’re holding up, Deputy Marshal. I heard you got tangled up.”

 

“Mine wasn’t nearly as bad,” Hoosier scoffed, thumbing over the stubble building up on Snafu’s cheek. “I didn’t have my head strapped into a bear trap trying to rip my jaw off. Didn’t have to carve up nobody.”

 

A hand laid along his shoulder and Hoosier craned his head back to see a kind smile. “He’ll be alright. We’ll get him the best help available. I did those stitches on him myself. There’ll hardly be a mark left when he’s done healing.”

 

Hoosier breathed a little easier and looked back at his CI. The more the doctor spoke, the more he could catch the lick of an accent around his words. It reminded him of Snafu’s own bitey drawl and it brought a small sense of comfort.

 

“He won his game, Deputy Marshal. The hard part’s over.”

 

A chill swept through Hoosier and when the hand left he shuddered. His gaze stuttered after the doctor, watching him leave as goosebumps cropped up along his arms. Those words, that voice...even those eyes, they triggered something.

 

Hoosier started to get up, following his gut, but stopped when Snafu whined. He sat back down and cupped Snafu’s cheek, taking his twitching hand and bringing it up to kiss. He murmured sweet nothings and comforted him as best he could until the detectives came to talk to him.

 

By then he’d half forgotten the doctor with the dark eyes.


End file.
